Treadmill

ABSTRACT

A treadmill includes a frame, two rollers, and an endless belt. The frame is placed on a ground and has a left plate and a right plate. The rollers have two opposite ends pivoted between the left plate and the right plate, and the endless belt is wound around the rollers. The left plate and the right plate are provided with a protective layer a top side thereof respectively. The protective layers may prevent unwanted injuries once if the user falls while using the treadmill.

The current application claims foreign priorities to patent applications of Taiwan No. 102202808 filed on Feb. 7, 2013 and No. 101116408 filed on May 8, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a training machine for improving cardiopulmonary function, and more particularly to a treadmill, which has a protective structure with a high softness surface to prevent possible sports injuries.

2. Description of Related Art

In present days, people have fewer chances to perform outdoor sports activities, and they tend to do exercises by using various indoor fitness equipments instead. Since treadmill is suitable for being used at home, and it satisfies the purpose of doing exercise and getting relaxed at the same time, it has become one of the most popular indoor fitness equipments.

For conventional treadmills, the endless belt and the rollers are set on a frame, and the frame is typically made of metal or hard plastic, which is easy to cause sports injuries once if the user falls. In other words, the conventional frame may hurt the user, especially on knees and hands. Therefore, how to protect the user and provide a safer way to do exercise is an important issue at designing a treadmill nowadays.

Moreover, although shoes could protect feet, they also compress feet and toes, and restrict the toes from spreading or curling up freely, which may hinder the blood circulation of feet. Therefore, more and more people advocate “barefoot exercise”, which means to do exercise without wearing shoes or even socks. While doing barefoot exercises, people could spread or curl up toes naturally, which improves the blood circulation. Besides, barefoot exercising further provides the effects of some kind of foot massage to the soles of feet. Under such trend, the rigid frame of the aforementioned treadmill might hurt the feet of users accidentally.

A new treadmill designed for “barefoot exercise” is taught in Taiwan patent NO. 360064, which provides an endless belt with towel material applied on its surface, and since the towel material is soft, the user could run on the treadmill with bare feet. However, the frame of such treadmill is still made of metal, and once if the user accidentally kicks the side frame at the both sides of the endless belt, it may cause the user to get hurt. Furthermore, the towel material in this patent is simply adhered onto the endless belt, which is easily to get off after the treadmill being used for a period of time. And needless to say, even when the towel material absorbs the sweat of the user and becomes stinky, it can't be washed. Furthermore, the surface of the towel material tends to be worn out, which is another drawback of such endless belt.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a treadmill, which provides a protective structure with high softness to prevent possible sports injuries.

The present invention provides a treadmill, including a frame, two rollers, and an endless belt. The frame is placed on a ground, and has a left plate and a right plate. The left plate and the right plate both have a bottom side towards the ground and a top side at the opposite side to the bottom side. Two protective layers made of soft materials are provided on the top sides of the left plate and the right plate respectively. The rollers both have two opposite ends, and the rollers are set in parallel on the frame with the two ends pivoted between the left plate and the right plate. The endless belt is wound around the rollers. With such design, the protective layers provided on the top sides of the left plate and the right plate may prevent possible sports injuries.

In an embodiment, the belt has a base belt and a soft layer, wherein the base belt is flexible and is wound around the rollers, and the soft layer is applied on an exterior side of the base belt. The soft layer has a higher ductility, and is softer than the base belt. Therefore, to the belt is suitable for doing “barefoot exercise”.

In an embodiment, the treadmill is further provided with a driving device mounted on the frame to drive one of the rollers to roll. The frame further comprises a cover plate to cover the driving device, and the outmost layer of the cover plate is a soft protective layer, which is able to prevent sports injuries when the user falls or kicks the cover plate accidentally.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a lateral view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the belt of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a treadmill, which is placed on a ground, of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a frame 10, two rollers 20, a driving device 30, a control device 40, and an endless belt 50.

The frame 10 has a base frame 12 and a handrail frame 14. The base frame 12 includes a left plate 121, a right plate 122, and a cover plate 123. The left and the right plates 121, 122 both have a bottom side towards the ground and a top side at the opposite side to the bottom side. The left and the right plates 121, 122 have a base plate 1211, 1221 and a protective layer 1212, 1222 respectively, wherein the protective layers 1212 and 1222 are respectively applied on a top side of the base plate 1211, 1221. The base plates 1211, 1221 are made of high-hardness metal to provide a sufficient supporting strength. In the present embodiment, the protective layers 1212 and 1222 are made of epoxy resin mixed with vesicant, which is a kind of foamed material, and such foamed material is applied onto the base plates 1211 and 1221 for vulcanization. After vulcanization, the epoxy resin mixed with vesicant (the protective layers 1212, 1222) are formed and adhered onto the base plates 1211, 1221. The cover plate 123 has a base plate 1231 and a protective layer 1232 as well, and the same material and procedure are applied here again In other words, in the present embodiment, the protective layer 1232, is made of epoxy resin mixed with vesicant, and is adhered onto the base plate 1231 after vulcanization, as the protective layers 1212 and 1222. The handrail frame 14 is fixed to the base frame 12 to be held by the user.

The rollers 20 are set in parallel on the base frame 12 of the frame 10. And more specifically, the opposite ends of the rollers 20 are pivoted between the left and the right plates 121 and 122, to perform free rolling.

The driving device 30 is mounted on the frame 10, and is covered by the cover plate 123. The driving device 30 has a motor 32 and a transmission belt 34, wherein the transmission belt 34 is wound on an output end of the motor 32 and one of the rollers 20, and therefore the motor 32 could drive the one roller 20 to roll via the transmission belt 34.

The control device 40 is provided on the handrail frame 14, and is electrically connected to the driving device 30. A user may control the motor 32 by operating the control device 40, and therefore control the rolling speed of the roller 20 which is driven by the transmission belt 34 and the motor 32.

The belt 50 is wound around the rollers 20, and between the left plate 121 and the right plate 122. The motor 32 drives the belt 50 to roll endlessly via the roller 20. A board (not shown) is mounted on the frame 10, and is under a top section of the belt 50 to bear the user's weight. As shown in FIG. 3, the belt 50 has a base belt 52 and a soft layer 54. The base belt 52 is wound around the rollers 20. In the present embodiment, the base belt 52 is a flexible PVC belt, and the soft layer 54, just like the protective layers 1212, 1222, and 1232, is foamed epoxy resin mixed with vesicant, and is attached onto the outmost surface of the base belt 52 after vulcanization. The soft layer 54 has a higher ductility, and is softer than the base belt 52.

When the user operates the control device 40 to turn on the treadmill, the motor 32 drives one of the rollers 20 to roll via the transmission belt 34, and therefore rolls the belt 34 with the other roller 20 rolls synchronously. By such design, the user may keep running on the belt 34 for the purpose of doing exercise.

Due to its high ductility, the soft layer 54 will not crack by being warped by the rollers 20. Besides, the soft layer 54 is able to absorb the weighing impact of feet because it is soft, which may decrease the shaking force born by the user's knees. Therefore, it is suitable for the user to run on the treadmill with bare feet, and without having uncomfortable pain.

The protective layers 1212, 1222, and 1232 provide the treadmill with a soft surface on the surface of the frame 10. Even if the user falls or kicks the left and right plate 121 and 122 or the cover plate 123 by accident, the protective layers 1212, 1222, and 1232 may prevent unwanted injuries from happening.

With the aforementioned soft layer 54 and the protective layers 1212, 1222, and 1232, the user may use the treadmill with bare feet safely, and therefore achieves the purpose of doing “barefoot exercise”.

FIG. 4 shows a treadmill of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, which includes a frame 60, two rollers 70, and a belt 80. The frame 60 has a left plate 621 and a right plate 622 only (without the cover plate). The same as the above description, the left plate 621 and the right plate 622 respectively have a base plate 6211, 6221 and a protective layer 6212, 6222, wherein the protective layers 6212 and 6222 is applied onto a top side of the base plate 6211 and 6221 respectively. The protective layers 6212 and 6222 serve the same function as the above description for preventing possible sports injuries.

It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A treadmill, comprising: a frame, which is placed on a ground, having a left plate and a right plate; the left plate and the right plate both have a bottom side towards the ground and a top side at the opposite side to the bottom side; two protective layers made of soft materials, which are provided on the top sides of the left plate and the right plate respectively; two rollers, which both have two opposite ends and are set in parallel on the frame with the two ends pivoted between the left plate and the right plate; and an endless belt wound around the rollers.
 2. The treadmill of claim 1, further comprising a driving device mounted on the frame to drive one of the rollers to roll, wherein the frame further comprises a cover plate to cover the driving device; the outmost layer of the cover plate is a soft protective layer.
 3. The treadmill of claim 2, wherein the protective layer of the cover plate is made of a foamed material.
 4. The treadmill of claim 3, wherein the foamed material is epoxy resin mixed with vesicant.
 5. The treadmill of claim 2, further comprising a control device mounted on the frame and electrically connected to the driving device; the control device is used to control the driving device by manipulation, and therefore controls the rolling speed of one of the rollers which is driven by the driving device.
 6. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the protective layers of the left plate and the right plate are made of foamed materials.
 7. The treadmill of claim 6, wherein the foamed materials are epoxy resin mixed with vesicant.
 8. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the belt has a base belt and a soft layer, wherein the base belt is flexible and is wound around the rollers, and the soft layer is applied on an exterior side of the base belt; the soft layer has a higher ductility, and is softer than the base belt. 